Ohio Man Found Frozen to Death at Home

Ohio police are investigating after a man was found frozen to death in his home.

Newsweek has reached out to the East Liverpool Police Department outside normal working hours for comment.

Why It Matters

Ohio is one of many states hit by challenging winter weather. Freezing temperatures across the country have led to hypothermia warnings in some states.

What To Know

According to The Review, East Liverpool Police received a call reporting a frozen deceased male.

Police responded to a residence at 725 Lincoln Avenue on January 21 and met with a person who said they had come to the residence to check on their friend, Daniel Cunningham, who had been sick with pneumonia.

The friend found Cunningham dead. According to a police report, Cunningham was found on the living room floor of a condemned residence, which was filthy and filled with trash.

The home was reportedly in a dire condition. It had no heat and was in single-digit temperatures. A water pipe had burst in the kitchen, and water was gushing into the basement, with the floor bowing inward.

Police were unable to determine how long Cunningham had been dead, and the person who called the police said that they had seen Cunningham four days earlier.

Cunningham was found wearing a coat, jeans, boots and a hoodie. A small rock of crack was found in a container.

A pit bull was found in the house without food or water and may have been suffering from hypothermia. According to reports from local media, the dog was thin and its nose was bleeding. The dog was taken by the dog warden.

According to an obituary in The Review, Cunningham is survived by a son and a daughter.

What Is Hypothermia?

Freezing to death is technically called hypothermia. According to the Mayo Clinic, hypothermia is "a condition that occurs when core body temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a medical emergency. In hypothermia, the body loses heat faster than it can produce heat, causing a dangerously low body temperature. Regular body temperature is around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit."

According to the Cleveland Clinic, between 700 and 1,500 people in the United States die from hypothermia every year.

What People Are Saying

Mayo Clinic: "When body temperature drops, the heart, nervous system and other organs can't work as well as they usually do. Left untreated, hypothermia can cause the heart and respiratory system to fail and eventually can lead to death. Common causes of hypothermia include exposure to cold weather or immersion in cold water. Treatment for hypothermia includes methods to warm the body back to a regular temperature."

What Happens Next

Police are investigating the case.

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